This weekend Oberlin will host the East of California Conference, a two-day event that is expected to bring an estimated 200 scholars, professors, Oberlin College alumni and students of Asian American Studies to campus. Beginning Friday afternoon and ending late Saturday, the weekend’s panels and presentations focus on the challenge of establishing programs for Asian American Studies at institutions in the Midwest.

EoC is a network of 64 colleges and universities that dedicates itself to promoting Asian American Studies. Formed at Cornell University in 1991 and holding an annual fall conference every year since, the group aims to institutionalize Asian American Studies, develop research and provide support for those in the field. Made up of students, faculty and staff, EoC is a caucus within the larger Association for Asian American Studies, a national professional organization for the field.

The EoC Conference is different from many at Oberlin since this one is geared toward and run by faculty. While all conference sessions are open to the entire community, Friday morning is reserved for faculty retreats focusing on issues of program building and networking. Working with the title “Locating East of California,” the conference itself begins at 1 p.m. on Friday with three sessions: one about experiences “In the Midwest Classroom,” another on “The Fight for Asian American Studies at Oberlin” and the third about “Researching Asian American Studies in the Midwest.”

The conference as a whole, according to its mission, intends to “reconsider the contours and practices of Asian Pacific American communities and scholarship east of California.” California, as the historical leader in the scholarship of Asian American Studies, is often thought of as the center for the field of study but schools like Oberlin are slowly beginning to challenge this notion by developing their own related programs.
“It’s really neat to see a lot of these panels because the speakers will be talking about issues related to the Midwest,” senior and Student Chair of the EoC Conference Liane Lau said. Lau noted that the whole process of bringing a conference of such magnitude to Oberlin was the work of the event’s co-chairs, Professor of Sociology Antoinette Charforous-McDaniel and Sharon Lee of the University of Illinois. Former Oberlin professor Moon-Ho Jung was the third co-chair until the end of last semester, when he left the College.

“The conference is meeting here because of the energy that professors Charforous-McDaniel and Moon-Ho Jung displayed. This conference is a recognition of the role Oberlin has had as a leader in Asian American Studies. It is a great accomplishment to have such an important conference here,” Dean of College Clayton Koppes said.

Aside from that, however, students have voiced the hope that holding the EoC Conference in Oberlin will shed more light on the need for increased Ethnic Studies options. “This conference highlights the need for Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies and Comparative American Studies at Oberlin,” Lau said.

Lau has been involved with the logistical plans of the conference since the beginning of the semester. Student support of the conference is obvious; 20 to 30 students have volunteered their time to help with the planning. Most of these students are from the Asian Pacific American community at Oberlin, though support has come from all directions. “It is very important that the East of California Conference is coming now to Oberlin; it highlights our current struggle for Comparative American Studies,” Lau said, also noting the boost it may give the 30-year-old campus initiative for Asian American Studies.

Pablo Mitchell professor of history, noted the importance the conference could play in relation to the push for CAS at Oberlin. “The conference will be a positive force in the progression of the CAS program,” Mitchell said. “As an example, look at the plenary — George Sanchez is a major figure in Chicano Studies. That points out the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship in American Studies.” Mitchell will be a discussant and a panelist for this weekend’s events. Mitchell is a Latino studies scholar and active in the organization of the CAS program at Oberlin.

Oberlin is lucky to host this year’s EoC conference. “Everyone who’s anyone in the field of Asian Pacific American Studies will be here this weekend,” Lau said. According to Lau, the conference’s keynote is Saturday’s plenary session focusing on Ethnic Studies and American Studies. The session runs from 3 to 5 p.m. and will bring together some of the major voices in the Ethnic Studies movement. Yen Le Espirtu of UC-San Diego will present on “Sensuous Knowledge.” Gary Y. Okihiro of Columbia University will speak on “Ethnic Studies and the Rethinking of America” and George Sánchez of the University of Southern California will present “Meeting at the Crossroads: American and Ethnic Studies as Practice and Ideology.”

The conference’s full schedule can be viewed at: http://chnm.gmu.edu/eoc/confoberlin.htm. Registration takes place on-site and is free for students and $25 for faculty, staff and community members.